Investigating a Potential Conflict of Interest in World Rugby Refereeing
A look at Christophe Ridley's new "formal role" with England Rugby while simultaneously continuing to be an international referee.
Paris-born English rugby referee Christophe Ridley, 32, will be in charge of this weekend’s second Test between the All Blacks and France at the Cake Tin.
Just 22 days ago, the RFU (England rugby’s governing body) quietly released this official statement on LinkedIn:
“The RFU can confirm that Christophe Ridley will take on a more formal role with the England Senior Men’s team, providing specialist support around officiating. Ridley, a professional referee since 2016, will advise the set-up on law changes, interpretations, discipline, and general referee engagement.”
It was an astute piece of PR work by England to quietly make this announcement with the entire rugby world laser-focused on Lions-mania and their respective national teams’ first Tests of the July Internationals. With only a little over 500 likes and less than a handful of follow-up articles on rugby aggregator news sites that I can find, I worry the extent and implications of this appointment aren’t being fully covered or grasped, and may not be until it’s too late and this practice has already been normalised.
An accompanying announcement article on RugbyPass notes the following critical detail: “There is no information as to how he [Ridley] will hold this role alongside being a referee in both the club and international game.”
Ok. Well, sorry to be that guy, but shouldn’t there be?
This isn’t the first time a referee has joined a national team in international rugby, but it might be the first time a current, active referee has. Previously, referees like Jaco Peyper with the Springboks and Jérôme Garcès with France have taken on similar advisory roles with national teams. However, crucially, the distinction is that they took on these roles after they had already retired from international rugby refereeing. On the other hand, Ridley is only 32, and remains an active referee in club and international rugby, with (presumably at least, given his age) plans to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.
As an article covering the announcement on PlanetRugby notes, “What makes Ridley’s position more unique is that he is still continuing his officiating career and combining it with his duties with the national team.”
Unique is certainly one word for it. Questionable is another.
It is a move that expands the consultancy role Ridley had previously been engaged in for England during this year’s Six Nations. As The Telegraph reported back in February:
“England have engaged the services of international referee Christophe Ridley to consult on officiating matters and improve their discipline in the Six Nations, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
Ridley, a current Six Nations official who oversaw Ireland’s victory over Wales, has been attending training at Pennyhill Park twice a week and advising the squad on current officiating trends. Ridley is one member of the English cohort of referees employed by the RFU who regularly officiates in the Premiership.
Referees working in international environments is not a new concept – former referees Jaco Peyper and Jérôme Garcès are both full-time on the staff with South Africa and France respectively – but it is rare for an active referee to be working in camp. Now, England have someone who attends referees’ meetings with World Rugby and who knows all the up-to-date trends of elite officiating.”
Joining England in a consultancy role was one thing, but this move to expand Ridley’s remit into a “more formal role” should surely have alarm bells ringing regarding potential conflicts of interest, no?
This article is—categorically—not intended to question Ridley’s professionalism, ability, impartiality, or quality as a referee, which I have no doubt are all utterly beyond reproach. I believe he is currently among the most promising young referees in the game. I enjoy the way he controls a match, and I broadly think that we complain far too much about referees in rugby and show them too little respect for what is, fundamentally, an impossible and contradictory job. I expect he will put in a professional, high-standard performance this coming Saturday. Equally, this is not an attempt to criticise England Rugby or Steve Borthwick, who have made an incredibly astute tactical move by hiring Ridley in this capacity. I’d have done exactly the same thing in Borthwick’s position. If it is ultimately deemed to be above board, I expect other teams will swiftly follow suit by hiring current referees in similar roles. I also look forward to the All Blacks nominating assistant coach Tamati Ellison to take charge of the third Test next week.
This is merely to point out that unconscious biases, well, exist and are even a natural, human reaction, and that simultaneously being employed as both a professional international rugby referee and in a formal advisory capacity by the England men’s national rugby union team is, inherently, a conflict of interest. I don’t think that’s an especially controversial statement.
I do not believe Ridley is inherently biased towards any one team, but I also know that humans typically don’t like to bite the hand that feeds, in this case, the RFU. It is therefore not difficult to imagine a scenario where the demands of two roles will clash, and in those cases, it must be asked: consciously or unconsciously, who will Ridley favour?
While, presumably, Ridley will be barred from refereeing England matches, I still have further questions, such as:
Will Ridley be allowed to referee Six Nations games that don’t involve England, but can directly impact their overall standings or fortunes in the tournament?
Will Ridley be allowed to referee World Cup games, either pool games or knockouts, that can directly impact England’s fortunes?
When the Nations Cup is introduced next year, will Ridley be permitted to referee matches that directly impact England’s standings and fortunes in that tournament?
All international Test matches impact World Rugby rankings and the associated World Cup seedings. Will Ridley be permitted to referee matches where the associated change in ranking points could directly impact England’s World Cup seeding or lead to England achieving a number one ranking (snigger)?
Above all, how, on earth, is a referee simultaneously being paid and employed in a “formal role” with the England men’s national rugby union team, while also continuing to referee in international rugby, not a blatant conflict of interest that has established rugby journalists screaming from their rooftops, rather than some guy trying to build a following on Substack?
To bring this post back to cricket, for those of you who subscribed to this newsletter for that reason, imagine: how would you feel if tomorrow Pakistan announced that Ahsan Raza would be joining their staff as an assistant coach, while simultaneously continuing to umpire in international cricket? How would you have felt if, two years ago, you had awoken to the headline that Joel Wilson was joining the West Indies team in an official capacity, while continuing to simultaneously umpire in International cricket?
At the very least, rugby fans deserve a far higher degree of transparency, clarity, and communication regarding this appointment and its potential far-reaching implications. Food for thought, World Rugby. The ball’s in your court.
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